No matter what age you are or what stage of life you are in, friendship is an essential part of life that when done right, makes the good times better and the burdens easier. However, like all kinds of relationships, they take effort to maintain—in some ways, even more so than romance or family. The fact is that friends are often seen as a more optional part of life, and it's all too easy to neglect to keep up with them.
This is something that was recently the subject of discussion on Twitter after one man lamented how his parents managed to schedule regular social nights with their friends in ways that his peers seemed to struggle with. While some came with examples of how people were keeping the tradition alive, others had to ponder why this might be. It can often seem like there just isn't enough time.